New Delhi: India on Friday firmly dismissed comments made by NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on a purported conversation between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin as “factually incorrect and entirely baseless.”
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) clarified that no such discussion had ever taken place and urged NATO leadership to act with greater caution.
India criticised the remarks after Rutte suggested that PM Modi had sought clarifications from Putin on Russia’s war strategy in the wake of US tariff actions.
“We have seen the statement by Nato Secretary-General Mr Mark Rutte regarding a purported phone conversation between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Vladimir Putin. The statement is factually incorrect and entirely baseless. At no point has Prime Minister Modi spoken with President Putin in the manner suggested. No such conversation has taken place,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said during the weekly press briefing.
Rutte, in his interaction with CNN during the UN General Assembly in New York on Thursday, had claimed that the tariffs imposed on India by US President Trump were significantly affecting Russia. He alleged that New Delhi was reaching out to Moscow, with Modi reportedly asking Putin to explain his approach to Ukraine, since India had been impacted by those tariffs.